Domestic violence and Female Genital Mutilation in Kenya: effects of ethnicity and education

Authors:

John Simister

Source:

Journal of Family Violence, volume 25 (3), pages 247-57

Topic(s):

Domestic violence Education Female genital cutting (FGC)

Country:

Africa
Kenya

Published:

2010

Abstract:

Abstract
This paper investigates domestic violence against women, including definitions of ‘domestic violence;’ and investigates “Female Genital Mutilation.” Data for this paper are from three national household surveys in Kenya: ‘Demographic & Health Survey’ (2003), Afrobarometer (2003), and ‘Work, Attitudes, & Spending’ (2004). Previous research in many countries has found convincing evidence of a tendency for domestic violence to be less common in households where the respondent and/or spouse have more education. This paper adds a new factor: the respondent’s mother’s education also seems relevant to prevalence of GBV (perhaps because of childhood socialization). This pattern applies to both experience of violence, and attitudes to such violence. There also appears to be a strong link between ‘Female Genital Mutilation’ (female circumcision) and mother’s education level. In each case, more education is associated with less violence.

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